Lori Lococo, international director of Toastmasters, greets members of Grand Valley's Toastmasters clubs.

Posted on May 02, 2013

Grand Valley’s Downtown Toastmasters club was presented with a corporate sponsorship award May 2 for being an outstanding sponsor and host for local Toastmasters clubs.

Lori Lococo, international director of Toastmasters, traveled from Canada, where the organization’s headquarters is located, to present the award. The breakfast meeting took place in the University Club Room of the DeVos Center.

“I’m very happy to present this award because Grand Valley and Toastmasters share the same values,” said Lococo, who joined Toastmasters more than 11 years ago. “We both support people, believe in integrity and are inclusive.”

For nearly 20 years, Grand Valley has provided space for meetings and training events for staff members, faculty and community members to enhance leadership and speaking skills.

Scott Richardson, associate vice president for Human Resources at Grand Valley, who helped establish the Allendale Toastmasters club in 1994, accepted the award on behalf of Grand Valley.

“We’re honored to receive this award and I’m proud to see the impact Toastmasters has had on the university. Grand Valley has grown from a small to large university and Toastmasters has helped with that,” said Richardson.

Grand Valley has two Toastmaster clubs. The Allendale club meets Wednesdays at noon in the Kirkhof Center. The Downtown club was founded in 1998 and meets Thursday mornings in the DeVos Center.

Toastmasters International has 12,500 clubs in more than 115 countries throughout the world.